Suspected Serial Killer Gets Life in Prison For Murdering Prostitute, Charged in 6 Other Killings

DETROIT – A man who police say is one of the most prolific serial killers in the city's history will spend life in prison after being convicted of murdering a prostitute.

A jury on Wednesday found Shelly Brooks, of Detroit, guilty of first-degree murder in the 2002 slaying of Pamela Greer, 33. The charge carries an automatic sentence of life without the possibility of parole. He's to be sentenced March 22.

Greer's beaten body was found in an abandoned apartment building on the city's east side.

Brooks, 38, also faces murder charges in the slayings of six other prostitutes dating back to 2001, including Sandra Davis, whose body was found five months earlier in the same apartment building as Greer's. Brooks is expected to stand trial next week in the 2002 death of Rhonda Myles, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News reported Thursday.

The victims, whose bodies were found in abandoned buildings or vacant fields, were killed with blunt-force trauma from objects such as cement blocks and a table leg. A surviving victim testified she smoked crack with Brooks, who then sexually assaulted her and struck her with a brick. He faces rape and assault in her case.

Authorities have said a difficult childhood may have been a motive.

Police suspect Brooks may be responsible for the killings of seven other prostitutes in a murder spree that began in 1999.